Regulatory Change Under the Trump Administration

Braden Perry, a former federal enforcement attorney who is now a regulatory and government investigations attorney with Kennyhertz Perry, discussed regulatory change with Secondary Marketing Executive, a magazine designed for mortgage banking professionals. Perry said although Trump has threatened to reverse Dodd-Frank, that likely will not happen. Perry does anticipate a systematic review of the myriad rules and regulations the CFPB enacted. “A few things I see that may be affected is the across-the-board compliance,” he said. “Many regional or smaller banks face astronomical compliance costs due to Dodd-Frank and the heightened provisions for risk. But these banks weren’t responsible for the activity associated with the risk, and compliance costs are hurting the smaller-scale banks.”

Perry said that another area that will see change is the regulations governing arbitration and disputes between consumers and financial products and services. In 2016, the CFPB proposed a rule that would prohibit mandatory arbitration clauses, which the bureau called “contract gotchas.” This is a very controversial rule, Perry said, and he adds that people in the industry think it could be reversed.

“With the Trump administration, anything is on or off the table,” Perry said. “But as Washington, D.C., is, it will likely take extraordinary effort and significant time for significant change to occur.”